The North Carolina Electoral College: the People and the Process Behind the Vote, page 28.

Description

The Legislature of 1811-1812 passed an electoral law authorizing the following general assembly to choose presidential electors for the 1812 election. This was an extremely unpopular law, and the majority of the senators and commoners were defeated in the 1812 elections.

When the legislature of 1812 assembled, the DR leadership began a public relations campaign. They recruited St. Sen. Jonathan Hampton, who had been elected with Federalist support, to run as a Madison Elector. They also had Raleigh newspaper run articles claiming that the Clinton campaign was bribing members of the legislature in order to win the state. When the vote was finally taken, the DRP strategy worked, as their slate of Presidential Electors was easily chosen. The numbers below shows how the legislature voted for the two slates of electors.

The Legislature of 1811-1812 passed an electoral law authorizing the following general assembly to choose presidential electors for the 1812 election. This was an extremely unpopular law, and the majority of the senators and commoners were defeated in the 1812 elections.

When the legislature of 1812 assembled, the DR leadership began a public relations campaign. They recruited St. Sen. Jonathan Hampton, who had been elected with Federalist support, to run as a Madison Elector. They also had Raleigh newspaper run articles claiming that the Clinton campaign was bribing members of the legislature in order to win the state. When the vote was finally taken, the DRP strategy worked, as their slate of Presidential Electors was easily chosen. The numbers below shows how the legislature voted for the two slates of electors.